SirSnookalot

Size, but more important the fight. 60 second battles don't get it for me.

If I had no limit on upside I'd be at the helm of my Viking sport fishing yacht, that isn't the case. I try and keep my purchases to what I think will get the job done for my brand of fishing. My level of seriousness for freshwater fishing does not demand costs that I believe are excessive. Not doing much bottom fishing the need for super sensitivity isn't there for me, a $75 rod is just fine with a spinning reel no more than $100. The majority of my fishing is done inshore saltwater fishing, I do have to up my game a little bit. On average my rods are $90-$140 and my reels are $150-200.

Only big fish being caught gives me the satisfaction my money was well spent. I don't favor one component over the other, it's rod and reel together.

I'm glad to hear that you have an accurate scale now. A 15# bass is pretty awesome, to me just as awesome is one of those 40# snook, I'd like to see one of those pictures. In all my years of snook fishing, and I do it nearly every day, I've never caught a 40 pound snook.

I use braid nearly 100% of the time and for me it's all spinning. The times I use mono are when I'm using lures that create excessive line twist, like a drone spoon, probably something that a freshwater fisherman may never use. In those cases I can troll out my line twist, very hard to do with braid. One of the first lessons I got as young kid from my dad was to always let the fish take the bait before setting the hook. Back in those days it was mono, but using braid today I don't do anything different except to adjust my hook setting timing. Catt has said on here, I fully agree, wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the rod then set the hook. Braid or mono the difference is just the timing, not the technique. Keeping it simple works for me, doesn't make any difference on line brand mono or braid, rod power or action.......... feel the fish, set the hook, and land that puppy, no more to it than that.

IMO the smaller the fish the more chance of being cut off, the teeth are closer together and sharper. Awesome catch on the fly rod, for me that takes center stage over catching them any other way. No pike here but barracuda is hot ticket, my surgical tubes are made with wire. Fishing for them off the beach with a fly rod or spinning with no wire is preference, I don't want to limit my bite for other species that may be coming in.

Your sore because of physical condition, your muscles are not in shape. I'm 68 years, cast a med spinning rod with 1 oz lures everyday and most of the casts are for max distance. Since I do this 7 days a week I never get sore or tired, nor do any of the other 70 year olds I fish with. Pitching and jigging are using different muscles than casting for distance, I can see getting a sore and tired doing a movement that you are not used to. I have never heard of a pro golfer or pro fisherman getting sore, they make 100's if not thousands of reps each day, they are in shape for their activity. Getting you body in shape is the answer. My freshwater casts are probably 15 yds, saltwater way farther, but the rod is doing the work.

At one time I labeled, they got beat up pretty bad by the salt and couldn't read them. I keep track in my mind for my 20 some odd reels. Year by year I make fishing simpler, not more complicated. If some one chooses to replace line a couple times a year, don't see the need to date. One can always put this information on a spreadsheet, which I've done, after awhile I lost interest.

Too many to name. Just about every SW rod manufacturer makes a rod in that price range. What do you plan on using the combo for? Avets that size are used for surf casting with a surf rod, boat rods can be used for drifting, trolling or pier fishing. I happen to have an Avet, mine is on a Star handcraft.

Sight unseen no way to tell the condition of the reels. Pflueger reels have always treated me well and Pure Fishing is about as good as it gets, quite often they just send out a brand new reel, they have done that several times when I sent an Abu in for cleaning. Personally I wouldn't buy used, I'd buy 1 new reel.

There are a number of ways to go, all work just fine. Store bought leaders, not a big fan of the snaps that come on them but inexpensive and should pose no problem. "Piano wire", use a haywire twist. Nylon coated surflon, crimp one end with a swivel and the other you can crimp on a duolock. What I use. Tieable wire, never used it, heard it works ok, bit costly but it's only money.

All of the mentioned products do work, but not for everyone. I have no trouble falling asleep, the tv is the best drug I've taken, it just puts me out. I'm only good for a few hours and then I'm up and cannot fall back asleep, I have always been this way. I get up for some stupid reasons like making an entry to record my blood sugar, takes a second or 2 and can be done any time of the day, but it's on my mind so it has to be taken care of instantly. Things I have to of a more serious nature are handled the same way. My mind is very active I'm always thinking about something. When in business a 7:00 am appointment meant I had to be there at 6:00 waiting, I'm never late for anything. The human mind is complicated, what can be trivial to one person can be serious to another, and you may be of the ilk that doesn't sleep well. Maybe just try and embrace your problem and turn it in to productive time.

The president series are heavier reels than their supreme counterparts, not that I think the weight is prohibitive. I use 3 supremes, each one is matched up nicely to the rod it's on. I don't think the 35 supreme is too big for bass, on my 7' med rod it is exceptionally comfortable. However I don't think a 35 president on my same rod would feel as good. If the president was my choice I'd probably get the 30 size.

BPS would be my first choice, they are very good about this kind of thing.

I did use a scale yesterday, I didn't like what it said, I either need to recalibrate it or go on a diet.

Just a few years, Port Aranasas Texas

Why am I not surprised? Never looked at the casting models before, that ml has the same lure specs as a medium bone. They have never kept their web site up to date, many rods not listed, they now have jigging rods, fly rods and 8' mh spinning which I really like. Redbone is all about cystic fibrosis, a portion is donated for every rod they sell. They sponsor tournaments to raise money for cystic, just read it's 10 million so far. It's one of the reasons I've been a loyal customer, plus it's a wonderful rod.

Just dealing with a mh, one can personalize the number to their own needs. Some feel the need to have more than 1 length, not all mh rods have the same lure weight parameters. I don't go much further than that but it isn't unusual to have different tapers on mh rods too. Depending on how technical one chooses to be, you can have a whole bunch of them.

maybe it was an 8 pounder and the scale weighed it light, lol. J/k, but it's possible an inaccurate scale could be wrong either being too light or too heavy.

In south Florida peacock bass were introduced in the 1980's, they are not native to Florida. I don't know if they have affected the LMB, but I do know they are fun to catch and I'm happy to have them here.

This couldn't be more true. Can't comment much about fish scales but I have owned scores of scales from postage to 100k# truck scales. The most accurate scales are spring, quite often there will be a digital display but the scale is spring. The more sensitive the more it needs to be recalibrated. The most accurate scales are probably triple beam used for precious metals, they are usually mechanical not digital. Anyone that has owned a business that uses scales knows that the Weights and Measures department comes in and does random checks and they recalibrate them. In most states a legal scale is +/-1%. I threw this out only to say that a digital scale may not be accurate, then again it just might be, but it should be checked from time to time and reset if needed.

I tie my loopknot with second wrap, I'm sure there is name for that knot. I catch my snook and tarpon with that knot using a 20# or sometimes 30# leader. I use it for bass fishing too. Every guide I have ever been with uses the loop, that's why I started using it.

Case closed !

I might look at something in the Shimano line up, some should have a lifetime over the counter warranty.

I agree with Capt Bob, I had 25# Big Game on an Avet mxj conventional reel and didn't care for it all. I've used several other brands that have worked much better, at present I'm using Stren High Impact. I do use Big Game for leaders (cut from 1/4# spool) for some inshore fishing, works fine for that. Offshore I use only leader material, I don't cut from mainline spools.